UNICEF and the Global Goals

UNICEF is committed to doing all it can to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in partnership with governments, civil society, business, academia and the United Nations family – and especially children and young people.

Madagascar rap star Name Six appointed first-ever Junior Goodwill Ambassador

At the age of 15, Malagasy rap star Name Six has been appointed as UNICEF’s first Junior Goodwill Ambassador for Eastern and Southern Africa.

By Susanna Mullard

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar, 21 June 2007 – UNICEF has appointed its first-ever Junior Goodwill Ambassador for Eastern and Southern Africa in the person of Malagasy rap star Narcisse Randrianarivony, popularly known as Name Six.

At just 15, Name Six has experienced phenomenal success in his home country. Born here in Madagascar’s capital, he has quickly risen in the ranks of the island’s most respected and influential musical artists.

Name Six began his singing career at the age of eight. Branching out, with the encouragement of family members, he became increasingly passionate about music and determined to make his art more meaningful.

Giving children a voice

To understand the challenges they faced, Name Six spent time talking with children living in the streets of Antananarivo. Deeply moved by their tales of struggle to find food and by their deep loneliness, he dedicated his first album, ‘Give Me The Right’, to these children.

He decided to use his own voice to convey the troubles of his newfound friends, as well as those of other vulnerable and exploited children in Madagascar.

In 2004, after Name Six made his debut performance on the hip-hop show ‘M’lay Ela’, people began to take notice. Not only was his music catchy and sophisticated, but the depth of his lyrics conveyed the need to address the plight of Madagascar’s children at risk.

Now that he is a national celebrity, Name Six has been careful not to lose sight of his priorities. To be a role model for others, he knows that he must continue to study hard at school. “If I am to be an example and be listened to, I must succeed in my studies and my personal life,” he says.

‘One teenager to another’

At a ceremony nominating him as Junior Goodwill Ambassador last month in Nosy Be, a small island off the northern coast of Madagascar, Name Six sat proudly alongside his new UNICEF colleagues.

“I would like to encourage young people to express themselves, to be positive,” he said. “We, the young, have things to say, values to share. We’re willing to discuss possible solutions for issues that concern us.”

During the ceremony, UNICEF Representative in Madagascar Bruno Maes thanked Name Six for taking on the new role. “This is the first time in UNICEF history that a teenager has been nominated to be a Goodwill Ambassador. I am convinced that a message conveyed by one teenager to another has the greatest impact,” said Mr. Maes.

Given Name Six’s deep commitment to advocate for children’s rights, and UNICEF’s longstanding drive to make those rights a reality, this new partnership is expected to benefit young people not just in Madagascar but throughout the region.